Irish Independent & Sunday Independent

First published on January 2nd 1905, The Irish Independent had a nearly immediate effect on the Irish Newspaper industry as the first halfpenny popular paper in Ireland.

It was originally established by William Martin Murphy as an amalgamation of two other titles; the Daily Independent and the Daily Nation.

In an effort to break the monopoly held by the Freeman’s Journal, Murphy took advice from two newspaper experts. On the back of this advice a Mr. Tim Harrington was appointed editor of his new paper, the Irish Independent, which was to have plenty of photographs; something to prove a great innovation for Irish journalism at that time.

Additionally the latest machinery of the time was purchased and the reporter’s newsroom was the first of any Irish newspaper to make extensive use of the telephone.

William Martin Murphy announced that the new look Irish Independent would be launched on January 2nd 1905. At 2.30am of the same morning the paper went to print with 50,000 copies of the first issue printed.

Sales of the paper soared and have continued to do so as the Irish Independent has proved itself to be Ireland’s most popular newspaper for over 100 years.

The complete archives are now available online at www.irishnewsarchive.com. View every edition from the last 100 years exactly as it was published on that day. Fully word searchable and completely indexed, Irish Newspaper Archives offers individual researchers and institutes / universities alike unprecedented access to a wealth of Irish and international history and how events were perceived in our national press.

Date Range Available:

Irish Independent 1905-2001
Sunday Independent 1906-2002

Counties Served: National

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